Blue Eyes Yellow Flash
by Rhaegar Targaryen
Summary: Sasuke was with Orochimaru for 2.5 years before killing him. He then spent 2 years tracking Itachi. Now Itachi is dead, and Naruto has brought Sasuke back to the village. But not everything is as it appears....will be rated M in later chapters.
1. Revenge and Redemption

Blue Eyes, Yellow Flash

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I'm just a guy with a dream to protect and uphold his way of the ninja. Believe it!

Hey guys. This is my first fanfic, so read and review! I don't know what I'm doing wrong if no-one tells me! It's set a few years after the Shippuden series, although I have changed what happened to fit with my story. This is a fanfic after all! Characters are around 17/18 years old, but of course some like Neji, Lee, Tenten, Kankuro and Temari are older.

CHAPTER 1: Revenge and Redemption

"Hey, Granny Tsunade! I found him!" The blonde headed ninja yelled as he burst into the office of the fifth Hokage. Tsunade stood, shocked nearly speechless. There on Naruto's back was the missing nin, Uchiha Sasuke. "Well don't just stand there! Help him!" Naruto yelled. Tsunade ran forward with chakra glowing around her hand as she noticed the numerous stab wounds and gashes over the body of the ninja who had left the village nearly five years previously. She checked him over as she started to heal his more serious wounds. Lifting his head to check on it, she gasped. There was just a gaping wound across his face where his eyes should have been.

"Naruto, his eyes...."

"I know Granny. We'll deal with that later; just make sure the bastard doesn't die on me."

Tsunade looked at the injured ninja with worry evident in her eyes. "I'll try Naruto, but we need to get him to the hospital fast. From the look of things he'll need a blood transfusion, and several hours of surgery".

* * *

Naruto paced back and forth outside the hospital room, furious at both Tsunade and himself. He wanted to be in there with his friend, and he wished he could have made it to Itachi's hideout earlier. To have finally caught up with his old friend and rival just in time to see him collapse from his wounds after killing Itachi had been one of the worst experiences of his life.

Suddenly a furious pink haired kunoichi rounded the corner dragging a body in a long black cloak with red clouds behind her in one hand. Opening the door, she tossed Itachi's body into the surgery. "They're siblings, so you should be able to use his eyes for a transplant" she announced to the room at large. Then she turned to Naruto.

He gulped as she stared at him, leather gloves creaking as she clenched her fists. He rubbed the back of his head nervously "Aha, Sakura, sorry I ran ahead, but I was really worried about Sasuke and I wanted to get him back to the hospital and...." he trailed off nervously.

Suddenly Sakura burst into tears and collapsed onto Naruto's shoulder. "Thank you Naruto...You kept your promise...you brought him back".

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke stirred. There was something strange going on. He was in a bed that he didn't remember getting into. In fact, the last thing he remembered was killing his brother. Curious, he sat up and opened his eyes.

"Awake are you?" the woman he recognised as the Hokage asked in an amused voice.

"It should be obvious" he replied shortly.

She gave a short laugh. "First things first I suppose. Let's deal with that curse mark. Inoichi! " The man she called walked into the room.

"You're Ino's father. You aren't a medi-nin. What are you doing in here? You can't remove the cursed seal." Sasuke stated.

Inoichi gave a short laugh. "Oh, I'm not here to remove the curse. I can seal it up tight as anything without having to remove it" Making a few hand signs, he quickly used one of his clan's famed mind jutsus.

Sasuke felt nothing. "What did you do?" he asked, still feeling empty after fulfilling his life's driving goal.

"Oh, I just tweaked with your mind a bit. There is now a special seal around the part of your mind that is used to access the curse mark. It's powered by your own life force, so you couldn't break through if you tried, kind of like how your body won't let you hold your breath until you die.".

Sasuke sighed. "Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked Tsunade. "I am a missing nin. If I was in your position I would have had me executed immediately". He frowned. "How did I get here anyway? And why can I see?"

Tsunade ignored the questions, and instead nodded to Inoichi, saying "Do it."

Inoichi again formed his hands into seals, and looking into Sasuke's eyes, he shouted "Release!" Sasuke screamed as the seal that had been on his mind for five years broke and the memories came rushing back.

* * *

Flashback/

_Sasuke stood before Tsunade as she looked through some papers on her desk. She had a worried look on her face. "Are these notes correct Sasuke? Are you really willing to do this? You will be alone for many years, and I will have to send people after you, possibly even ANBU hunter-nins. I will try to keep from registering you as a missing nin, but it may be necessary to keep your cover"._

_Sasuke seemed to think for a moment before he answered. "It is something I feel I have to do. As you know from the papers in front of you, I came to the Third after the second test of the chuunin exams to express my concern about Orochimaru, and to volunteer for this mission. He refused, thinking Orochimaru was not a serious enough threat to warrant it. However, I did, and still do, believe that it is necessary. I believe that recent events have proven me correct". _

_Tsunade sighed as she reflected on the reason why she was now Hokage. "I have heard of you Sasuke. The last of the Uchiha's. The Avenger. The cold, uncaring bastard." Sasuke visibly flinched at the last sentence. "Why would you suddenly have such a change of heart?"_

_Again, Sasuke seemed to think for a minute before he answered. "As much as I hate to say it, I think Naruto is rubbing off on me. During the second test, he surprised me with his strength. I was even more surprised when he beat Gaara, a ninja I could not defeat. Gaara and I... neither of us has any people who are precious to us, but we have had our strength. Naruto has bested us both. I am finally starting to think Naruto might be right. To be protecting someone who is precious to you...that is the source of true power. That said, I need more power to be able to protect those who will become precious to me from my bastard of a brother. Orochimaru will give me that power if I go to him. Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura...never let the dobe know it, but he is the best friend I have. I want to be able to do what he does". _

_Tsunade smirked as she thought of her own experiences with Konoha's number one knuckle-headed ninja. "Very well Sasuke. I am assigning you a Super S-ranked mission....."_

/End Flashback

* * *

Sasuke looked at Tsunade from the floor. He had been thrashing about so much that he had fallen out of the bed. Tsunade smiled at him as she lifted him back on. "Do you remember Sasuke?"

"Yeah, I think I do, but it will take a while to process it all" Sasuke replied.

Tsunade looked down at him sadly as she produced a pair of polished steel bracers from a bag slung over her shoulder. "And now we get to your punishment" she sighed.

"Punishment?"

"Yes, as I warned you, I was unable to keep the council from registering you as a missing nin. I kept them happy until Orochimaru was dead, but when you disappeared after killing him, I was unable to stall them any longer. The council would never execute the last member of a clan that was once a great power in the village, but nor will they let your defection go unpunished; even though I explained the situation behind the mission you were given. They accept that going to Orochimaru was a mission you were given, but then you had to go off after Itachi for two years. As a result of this, they have decreed that you wear these for the next two years" Tsunade said, tossing the bracers into Sasuke's lap.

He looked them over quizzically. "And these are?"

Tsunade sighed as she explained. "They are known as link bracers. Long ago, when a ninja couple was married, they exchanged rings that when worn, would allow them to sense the chakra of their partner, so they always knew where they were. Those bracers are a perversion of that. Through them and a ring that I will also have to wear for the next two years, I can not only sense your chakra, but shut it off or even kill you if it is decided that you are a threat to the village".

Sasuke sighed as he looked at the bracers. They were made of brightly polished steel, with the Konoha leaf symbol on the top and a series of kanji on the underside. He slid them over his arms and closed them with a snap. The edges sealed seamlessly, and they looked to be made of a single piece of metal. Tsunade looked shocked. Sasuke noticed this and smirked. "Surprised I agreed so easily? You shouldn't be. Itachi is dead. From now on my agenda is to rebuild my clan and help keep Konoha safe. You won't be needing that ring."

Tsunade laughed out loud at his statement. Inoichi also looked pleased. Tsunade then looked towards the door and shouted out "you can come in now." Sasuke turned to look at the door and felt his jaw drop at what he saw.

* * *

'What happened to the little girl I knew?' was Sasuke's first thought as his blonde headed friend and rival walked in the door accompanied by a familiar girl- no, that wasn't right, she was most definitely a woman now . She had certainly grown in the time he had been gone. Where once there was a little girl wanting approval, there stood a confident kunoichi, secure in her skills and her looks. He tried desperately to moisten his mouth. Finally he managed to say, in a dry voice "Hey Naruto. Hey Hinata". He was stunned to see the two of them holding hands. Figuring it out, he grinned. "So you finally figured out she likes you, huh dobe?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and grinned "she sorta made it obvious, yeah".

Suddenly Sasuke frowned. "Where's Sakura?" he asked. "No offence Hinata but I thought she would be here instead of you."

Suddenly a happy voice sounded out as a pink haired kunoichi bounded into the room "sorry Sasuke, Tsunade-sensei was just giving me some instructions." If Sasuke's jaw had dropped at the sight of Hinata, it nearly hit his lap when he saw Sakura. Like Hinata, she had grown and matured over the years. Unlike Hinata, she also appeared to have changed her look. Where the Hyuuga heir seemed to have discarded her bulky parka, Sakura appeared to have changed her look entirely. Gone was the old dress (A.N. no idea what that thing was called). In its place was a pink battle skirt over a pair of dark blue denim mini-shorts. She also wore a modestly cut red tank top along with her hitai-ite, which was tied loosely around her neck. A pair of fingerless leather gloves and a pair of knee high boots completed the outfit. Looking at Naruto, Sasuke realized that his clothing had changed as well. He was wearing his usual blue ninja sandals, but gone was the obnoxious bright orange jumpsuit that Sasuke had been familiar with. In its place was a pair of long black pants, and a chuunin vest over a tight, burnt orange t-shirt. The old blue-clothed hitai-ite was also gone, replaced by a black one which reached down to his shoulders.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the vest "Chuunin? Would have thought you'd all be jounin by now".

Naruto laughed as he replied "well I figured I'd wait for you, it just wouldn't be the same without you. Sakura and Hinata are already jounin though, and Hinata here is even an ANBU hunter-nin". Sasuke tried to keep the look of surprise from his eyes, and clearly failed.

Hinata pouted as she looked at him. "Aaaaw, Sasuke, I'm hurt. Don't tell me you've never heard of the Hyuuga Horror?"

Sasuke was again unsuccessful at keeping the shock from his face. "I had heard, yes, but I always assumed it was Neji..."

This time it was Sakura who answered. "Neji was the original, yes, but when he was made an ANBU captain he wasn't able to take any more risky missions. Hinata stepped up and proved herself just as worthy of the title" Turning to the other guests in the room, Sakura continued talking. "Anyway, if you two could step out of the room for a bit, I need to give Sasuke his check up."

* * *

Sakura stared at the man she had loved for years. A whirl of thoughts was going through her head. On the one hand, he had knocked her out and left her on a cold park bench in the middle of the night immediately prior to leaving the village. But on the other hand, both Tsunade and Inoichi had explained that it wasn't him doing those things, that both his loyalties and his personality had been altered by Inoichi to turn him into someone who Orochimaru would believe would be willing to betray his village and his comrades just for power. And she knew that despite everything, she still loved him. Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't realize she was staring until he gave her a familiar smirk. She shook her head as she moved to his side. It was with a touch of sardonic humour that she realized that she was now about to do for her job something that she would have loved to do for other reasons, before he had left the village that is. She looked at him, and in a tone that brooked no argument, she said "alright Sasuke, I need you to take off your clothes".

* * *

Naruto and Hinata were walking along the street in front of the hospital hand in hand as they looked for a place to buy some lunch. Suddenly Hinata pointed out something that amused them both. Tsunade was sitting down in one of the street side restaurants, looking forlornly into her bowl of sake. Naruto laughed as he and Hinata slid onto the bench opposite her. "Hey Tsunade baa-chan. I've never seen you look this depressed while drinking sake. Did you lose more money gambling?"

Tsunade scowled at him "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, you brat? And for more information, I only look sad because of Shizune."

"Shizune?" said Hinata is surprise. What did she do to make you sad?

Tsunade muttered something.

Grinning widely, Naruto said "Say again baa-chan, I couldn't quite hear you."

Tsunade yelled angrily "The damn slavedriver won't let me have any more after this one!" Naruto nearly fell over from laughing. Tsunade snarled at him. "Get out of here brat before I kick your ass again. Oh, and I want you and Sasuke in my office at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, no excuses".

* * *

Sakura was finding it hard to keep her mind solely on her job as she examined Sasuke. Despite the number of nude and near nude people she had seen over her time as a medi-nin, she could not keep a light blush from staining her cheeks. This was different after all. This was Sasuke-kun. She looked over his wounds with a critical eye, shocked at the number and severity of them. Although he was well and truly out of danger after nearly twelve hours of surgery and two weeks in a medically induced coma, the marks from his fight with Itachi were still severe. She knew that Naruto had saved his life, had he been even fifteen minutes later in being taken back to Konoha, he would have died for sure. She held her breath as she moved to the wound that had pained her the most. His eyes. "Tilt your head back please" she requested. As he complied she reached up and put a few drops of medication in his eyes.

It was at this stage that Sasuke spoke for the first time since Naruto and Hinata had left. "Sakura, the last thing I remember before Naruto brought me back is Itachi slicing out my eyes after I hit him with a chidori in the chest. Why can I see?"

Sakura bit her lip. She wasn't sure how Sasuke would take this. "Sasuke, when Naruto found out from a former spy of Orochimaru's that you were just a few miles away, I was with him. I would have arrived at the same time as him except that he wouldn't slow down for me. By the time I got to Itachi's hideout, Naruto had already left with you" She bit her lip again nervously. "Fortunately he was smart enough to leave a note telling me your condition. I took Itachi's body with me and Tsunade used his eyes for a transplant". She looked at him with worry evident in her eyes, unsure of how he would react.

To her surprise he didn't seem fazed at all, simply nodding his head and saying in a calm voice, "I see".

Sakura sighed in relief. "So you aren't angry then? About having part of Itachi inside you?"

Sasuke looked at her with something strange in his eyes. "Itachi doesn't matter anymore Sakura. He's dead, the Uchihas are avenged. My only concern now is the rebuilding of the clan." And with those words, he leaned down and kissed her. She leaned into it, wanting it. But at the same time, there was a strange feeling inside her, something that made her pull away.

She stroked his cheek gently. "Sasuke-kun....."

And so ends chapter one! Please review and tell me what you think!


	2. Anger and Acceptance

Blue Eyes Yellow Flash

Chapter two

Anger and Acceptance

**Something that should be said is that this will not be a yaoi fic. Sorry to anyone who was hoping that it would be. The reason why I listed the characters as being predominantly Naruto and Sasuke is because the majority of the story will be focused on them. It is not an indication of a possible pairing between them, and as such I have changed the main characters to be Naruto and Hinata, as that is the only revealed pairing so far. Sorry to anyone who got the wrong idea. That said, please read, review, and take note of the fact that I still don't own Naruto!**

Sasuke looked at her with something strange in his eyes. "Itachi doesn't matter anymore Sakura. He's dead, the Uchihas are avenged. My only concern now is the rebuilding of the clan." And with those words, he leaned down and kissed her. She leaned into it, wanting it. But at the same time, there was a strange feeling inside her, something that made her pull away.

She stroked his cheek gently. "Sasuke-kun....." Suddenly, without any change in expression, she drove her free hand into his stomach.

He dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. "Sakura, why...."

Leaning down to look into his eyes, Sakura looked furious. "What the hell was that Sasuke? Last time we were together you knocked me out and left me on a cold park bench in the middle of the night. I don't care what seals you had on you at the time, you can't do something like that and expect me to be okay with you kissing me the next time you see me. If you ever try to kiss me without my permission again, I'll aim a little lower." Sasuke went even paler at the thought. Dropping a small dripper bottle on the floor next to him, she said "two drops per eye every hour and a half." And with those words she stormed out of the room.

* * *

The next day, Sasuke and Naruto stood before Tsunade in the Hokage's office. Naruto was grinning as if he knew what was coming. Sasuke was burning with curiosity, but was pretending to be impassive.

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork and smiled at them. "Naruto, Sasuke. It's good to see you were able to get here on time. I have two things to tell you. Firstly, Sasuke. It is a condition of your reinstatement as a Konoha ninja that you have a parole officer that will be living with you. This officer must be a ninja of power comparable to yours, who is explicitly trusted by me. To this end, you will be staying with Naruto." Suddenly she frowned. "I was going to give you a choice between Naruto and Sakura, but Sakura came to me yesterday afternoon asking me to place you with Naruto. Whatever you did, sort it out with her. I want to reform the old team seven, but if there is dissent between you, I can't."

At this, Naruto looked questioningly at Sasuke. When he didn't show any signs of wanting to explain, Naruto looked back to Tsunade. "Hey baa-chan, tell him the next part already!"

Tsunade sighed at hearing Naruto's disrespectful name for her yet again. Pulling a ring of keys out of her pocket, she threw them to Sasuke. Startled, he caught them, and then looked at her quizzically. She smirked, then said "Uchiha Sasuke. As a ninja, you have been considered an adult ever since you graduated the academy. However, you are generally not allowed to receive any inheritances until you turn fifteen. This date is well and truly past. On that ring are the keys to every building in the Uchiha compound, which is now the property of you and you alone. There is also a key to a safe deposit box at the Konoha General Bank, which holds the fortunes of all the deceased Uchiha's. Congratulations, you are now the second richest man in Konoha."

Sasuke snorted. "Like I care about money. And if I own the Uchiha compound, why am I living with Naruto?"

Tsunade glared at him. "I already said that it is a condition of your reinstatement that you have a parole officer."

Sasuke looked frustrated. "But the Uchiha compound is far better than Naruto's tiny apartment!"

At this point Naruto butted in. "Don't worry Sasuke, I don't live there anymore. My place is more than big enough for both of us. You'll see."

* * *

Sasuke was amazed. To say that Naruto's new house was big enough for both of them was a huge understatement. It was a veritable mansion. He couldn't believe it. "Naruto, I have a question. How the hell did you afford this?"

Naruto grinned. He'd been waiting for Sasuke to ask that question. "My father left it to me" he said casually over his shoulder.

Sasuke gaped at him. "You found out who your father was?"

Naruto grinned again. "Yeah, it turns out you aren't the only one who comes from a good family. My father was Namikaze Minato."

Sasuke looked at Naruto thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, there was a good resemblance between Naruto's new, older face and the face of the fourth carved into the cliff. Then he remembered something he read once. "That actually explains a fair amount. The Namikaze clan never had a recorded kekkei genkai, but almost without exception the members of the clan had freakish physical and chakra stamina. It appears to have manifested very strongly in you, but some of that might be the fox."

Naruto started and then glared at Sasuke. "Chakra stamina maybe. But my physical stamina is purely me now, even though that might not have always been the case."

Sasuke looked curiously at Naruto. "What do you mean by that?"

Naruto again grinned smugly. Concentrating, he formed a rasengan in his right hand. Rather than the blue ball Sasuke was expecting, it was a swirling sphere of blue and red. "The seal the fourth put on the kyuubi was designed so that over time my chakra and the fox's would align, and his power would become mine. It happened about a year and a half ago. My chakra control's also gotten better as result; I don't need a clone to make a rasengan anymore."

"Hn. I can see that, dobe. Now open the door already, there's no use just standing around outside."

* * *

Sasuke looked down at the table and sighed. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised, but with the grand new house, he had sort of expected that the food Naruto ate would have gone up market as well. So when Naruto had offered to make them some dinner after they finished moving Sasuke's very limited belongings into the house, Sasuke had thought nothing of it. So he decided it was his own fault that he was now looking rather unenthusiastically at a steaming cup of instant ramen. "Do you ever eat anything other than this stuff?" he asked.

Naruto laughed. "I only eat this stuff when I'm alone. Hinata always cooks whenever she's over. She's coming round tomorrow night, you'll love her cooking."

Sasuke suddenly remembered the surprisingly open and confident kunoichi from the hospital. "What's happened to her anyway? She used to be so quiet and weak."

Naruto frowned at him. "She was never weak Sasuke. It's just that her family never saw that."

Sasuke smirked at him. "Whatever you say. But you can't deny that she used to be so shy that she would blush and faint whenever you were around. That has definitely changed."

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, that's true at least. Sakura thinks it's because of me. I think she always had it in her, she just never let it show." He frowned. "She went through a really rough patch when her father disowned her, but she came through it stronger than ever."

The stoic Uchiha barely stopped himself from gasping. "She got disowned? But why?"

Naruto looked away from Sasuke as he thought of how he would explain what had happened to his girlfriend of eighteen months during the most difficult time in her life.

Flashback/

_Hinata gasped in pain. She couldn't keep her legs straight, the repeated hits were all that were keeping her upright. Finally it was over. "64 palms." Hanabi said coldly as her older sister fell to the floor. Hinata let out a soft sob. Not only was she hurting all over, but she knew what was coming now. Her father would not be pleased. _

_As if on cue, her father's voice reached her ears. "Hinata. We must talk. My study, now." When they were in his study, he sighed. What would come was going to be difficult, but he had no choice. "Hinata. As you know, there are two branches of the Hyuuga clan. The main family, and branch family. Normally, Hanabi would be part of the branch family due to your position as the heir. However, up until now I have trained you both. This cannot continue. The elders have decreed that I must name one of you as the heir." He turned around and faced her with a sigh. "Hinata, I am sorry. But given the evidence of your spar with Hanabi, she is clearly stronger. Despite being younger than you she not only defeated you, but did so with a technique that you are yet to learn. I must do what is best for the clan. I will be naming her the heir tomorrow and you will be made a member of the branch family and will be branded with the caged bird seal."_

_Hinata could tell she was about to start crying. Not wanting to show yet another sign of weakness in front of her father, she let out a soft "yes father" before turning and running form the room._

_/end flashback_

Sasuke looked disgusted at the story that had just been told to him by the one he secretly considered his brother. "So what happened then?"

Naruto frowned. "She left. She wouldn't let them put the seal on her. Hiashi disowned her and made it known that she wasn't welcome back at the Hyuuga compound. She was living with me for nearly half a year. Hiashi took her back when she made jounin, and she's back living in the compound now. It's a strange situation. She was offered the position of heir again, but after what she'd been through she told the elders that she didn't want it. So they still want to put the seal on her, but me, Hiashi and Tsunade won't let them. Neji's pretty angry about it too, but he's still got the seal so he can't do much. To be honest, Hiashi disowning her is the best thing that could have happened. She's technically not a Hyuuga anymore, so Tsunade is allowed to intervene on her behalf, if it was just a clan matter she'd have no jurisdiction. And you wouldn't believe how much stronger Hinata has gotten now that she's not under all the pressure of being the heir."

Sasuke looked at Naruto strangely. "You seem to be quite familiar with Hinata's father. I would have thought that the uptight head of a 'prestigious' clan would hate the 'demon brat' ."

Naruto sighed. "It's wierd. He still cares greatly about Hinata, and I can't help but respect him for that, but he has to act like a jackass a lot of the time because of his position as clan head. He's gotta do a lot of things he doesn't want to do because that's what's best for the clan."

Sasuke smiled. "Well we might have to do the same thing some day. The Namikaze's used to be a very important clan in Konoha, and you know how important the Uchiha's were. We're the heads of those clans now, if only because all our family is dead."

Smiling sardonically, Naruto lifted his ramen cup in a mocking toast. "To the last of the clans!" Sasuke lifted his cup and knocked it against Naruto's. They resumed eating in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

The next day Sasuke and Naruto rose late with fuzzy heads. They had followed the ramen with a heady mix of sake and memories. Silently Naruto prepared some more ramen for breakfast. After eating in silence they went their separate ways, Naruto going to see Tsunade to enlist the two of them in the jounin exams, Sasuke simply wanting to get out of the house and wander around the village he had done so much for, even if the people of the village didn't know it. Tsunade had promised to make it known that he had been sent to Orochimaru as a mission, but had warned that it would take a little while for all the villagers to know (although of course all shinobi in the village were told as soon as he returned), and even longer for them to lose their distrust of him. True to her word, he received many dirty looks as he walked through the village. He was wandering aimlessly and was surprised to find himself outside the Konoha bank. On a whim, he went inside. He was surprised to be immediately approached by a short, bustling little man who greeted him by name and acted as if they were familiar with each other.

Sasuke couldn't help but be amused by the small man who introduced himself as Tsuchiko. He fuddled with some papers on the desk that he had dragged him over to. Then he looked up to Sasuke. "Over the years since I have been placed in charge of the Uchiha accounts, I have been able to maintain a growth of fifteen percent per year. I would recommend that you allow me to remain in charge of the accounts, but of course that is your decision to make."

Sasuke smiled at the hopeful look on Tsuchiko's face. "To be able to maintain such growth consistently over so many years is quite impressive. I will of course continue to have you in charge of the accounts. But I must ask, you act as if you know me. Is this the case?"

Tsuchiko looked surprised. "But of course. You came in a few times with your father before...well, you know."

Sasuke stared at him. "Before my brother murdered the entire clan. Yes, I know." Changing the subject, he said "I believe I shall require some funds for the next few months. Please arrange it."

Looking very grateful for the distraction, Tsuchiko fuddled around with some papers for a while before going into a different room and returning with a small pouch designed to be hung from a belt. Looking inside Sasuke found it was filled with notes of varying denominations. Tsuchiko said to him "That should be enough to last at least a few months, although if it isn't, you are of course welcome to come back for more."

Sasuke nodded, and feeling himself wanting to get away from the man who had apparently known his father, quickly left.

* * *

Naruto wandered around Konoha aimlessly. Not for the first time, he wished he had his girlfriend's eyes. He was sure that Sakura was pissed at Sasuke for some reason, and a pissed off Sakura was hard to find. Naruto then shuddered at the thought of what he was about to do of his own free will. Hunt down a probably pissed of Sakura.

It took Naruto nearly two hours to find Sakura. She was at the training grounds where her, Naruto and Sasuke had officially become genin. She had a line of big boulders in front of her and was systematically pulverising them with her superhuman strength. Naruto approached her cautiously. "Sakura-chan?"

She whirled around, anger showing in her clear green eyes. "What do you want?" she demanded angrily. Seeing Naruto, the expression on her face was softened. "Oh, sorry Naruto, I thought you were Sasuke."

Naruto laughed nervously. "Never thought I'd see the day that you would prefer seeing me to seeing Sasuke."

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, well I never thought I'd see the day that I would be angry about Sasuke kissing me, so there you go. What are you after Naruto?"

Naruto looked at her with worry evident in his bright blue eyes. "I came to find out what Sasuke did to annoy you, but I guess I know now. When did he find time to kiss you?"

Sakura looked away from Naruto. "After I gave him his checkup yesterday....It was wierd!" she burst out suddenly. "I've liked the guy for ten years and when he finally kisses me all I can think of is how much of a jackass he's been." She sighed. "I don't even know if he even likes me as a person. Does he even see me as any more than a womb on legs?"

Naruto stared. Until then he'd known better than to interrupt, but at this last question, directed mostly at the air, he couldn't help himself. "Eheh, Sakura, what makes you say that?"

Sakura whirled to face him. "He's just concerned with rebuilding his clan. For that he needs a wife to give him children. I know what he's thinking. I've loved him for years; he thinks I'll be an easy mark. Well he's got another thing coming. He tries something like that again and he won't be able to have any kids even if he finds someone stupid enough to marry him!"

Naruto winced at the threat that no man likes to hear. He sighed "Sakura...we have to give him time. I'm sure he didn't realize you would be so upset by it." He grinned suddenly "After all, it could even be that the teme loves you but is too proud to say it!"

Sakura smiled wanly. "Maybe......"

Naruto looked back over his shoulder at Sakura as he turned to leave. "I'm having everyone round my place tonight Sakura. We'll be there to show Sasuke we support him and we're glad to have him back. I think you should come. Regardless of how you feel about Sasuke at the moment, he'll need our support." Looking down at his shoes, he said quietly "Tsunade baa-chan told me that Sasuke might be affected by the release of the seal on his mind for anywhere up to a year. Maybe you should talk to Ino or her father, find out what he's going through at the moment." With those words he made a hand seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura thought about what Naruto had said for a few moments before heading off to find her blonde headed kunoichi friend.

Chapter two done. Reviews please!


	3. A gathering of comrades part 1

**Blue Eyes Yellow Flash**

**Chapter 3**

**The gathering of comrades part 1**

Stats so far-14 story alerts, one author alert, one favourite author, two favourite story and seven reviews. Thank you so much you guys! Keep 'em coming please. (but I still don't own Naruto......)

* * *

Sasuke walked back into Naruto's house later that day with lots of things on his mind. Despite this he noticed the strange silence of the house. Pulling a kunai from the new weapons pouch he had purchased after going to the bank, he stealthily walked through the house, checking rooms as he went. Suddenly he heard some whispering and soft laughter. Relaxing, he slipped the kunai back into his weapons pouch and walked into the room. He was surprised to see Naruto sitting on the couch with Hinata on his lap. The two of them were making out and giggling to each other. He leaned against the doorway and smirked. "Am I going to have to put up with this for the whole time I'm living with you?" he asked the room as a whole.

Startled, Naruto and Hinata jumped apart, both of them blushing slightly at being caught in such an intimate position. Suddenly Hinata leaned forward and smiled at him. "Well from what I hear you wouldn't have to be putting up with it if you hadn't tried the same thing with Sakura yesterday, isn't that right Naruto?"

Naruto frowned at Sasuke. "Yeah. I talked to her today. She's not happy. I'm not particularly impressed either."

Sasuke looked away from them. He didn't want to be reminded of yesterday's painful experience. "Whatever" he huffed.

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other meaningfully before becoming twin blurs of movement. Not expecting an attack, Sasuke was defenceless. Hinata, byakugan suddenly activated, hit a tenkutsu on the back of his neck. Sasuke suddenly collapsed, only to be caught by Naruto before he hit the floor. Naruto gently laid him on the couch they'd just vacated. He then apologised. "Sorry about this Sasuke, but we need to talk and we can't have you running away."

Hinata continued after this. "What did you think you were doing Sasuke? You can't ignore someone's affection for ten years and then try to kiss them after not seeing them for five years. She has done so much for you." Leaning over and jabbing her fingers at the red scar across his new eyes, she continued. "You would either be blind or without the sharingan if not for the fact that she was willing to carry Itachi's dead body for miles, on the off chance that his eyes could be used for a transplant. She deserves more than what she's getting from you." Standing up, she looked across to Naruto. "You got anything to add?"

Looking slightly amused by his lover's ferocity, Naruto shook his head. "I think you've just about summed it up".

Hinata turned back to Sasuke. "Think about what we've said, please. Sakura missed you so much....I would hate for her to start wishing you hadn't come back." Leaning down, she unblocked Sasuke's tenkutsu, restoring his movement to him. Then she and Naruto turned and walked away. Sasuke just lay there for a while thinking. Then he got up and went in search of Sakura.

* * *

Shikamaru sighed. As he was fond of saying, women were troublesome. And it stood to reason that two women were more troublesome than one. Make those two women ninja and it all added up to a really bad day. So when he walked into the Hokage's office to find not only Tsunade but a certain blonde haired sand kunoichi, he sighed inwardly. He could already tell that he wasn't going to have any spare time for cloud watching any time soon. He bowed to the fifth Hokage. "Tsunade-sama". He turned to the sand ninja. "Temari." he greeted her with a shallow bow.

She smiled back at him. "Hello again Crybaby-**chan**" she said, emphasising the insulting honourific.

Shikamaru sighed again at the familiar offensive nickname. He hadn't even been in the room for five minutes and he was already wishing that he hadn't bothered getting out of bed that morning. He looked back to Tsunade as she cleared her throat.

"Although it's good to see you two getting on as always, I have better things to do with my time than watch you bicker. Shikamaru, I'm sure that by now you know what your duties are." Suddenly she frowned. "And if I get one more report of you ignoring those duties to go watch clouds, I'll bust you back down to genin."

Shikamaru scowled. He had indeed been considering letting Temari be her own guide. She didn't begrudge him his time to himself, and seeing as Konoha was pretty much her second home due to her duties as an ambassador she knew her way around just as well as he did. But politics was a game that had to be played between their respective villages, even if the Kage's were on friendly first-name terms with each other. He sighed yet again and walked out of the office, motioning for Temari to follow him.

* * *

Shikamaru and Temari walked down the streets of Konoha in silence. Eventually Temari broke it. "I have heard that the Uchiha has returned to the village. Is this true?"

Shikamaru silently nodded his head in affirmation. "Apparently going to Orochimaru was a mission given to him by the Hokage. Hinata and Naruto are having everyone round his place tonight to greet Sasuke and welcome him back. It's troublesome, but Ino says that if I don't go she'll take over my body and make me teach my next class in a dress."

Temari grinned. "That sounds like her. Are she and Chouji still together?"

Shikamaru nodded again. "They're still together and still sickeningly affectionate."

Temari laughed. "What about you Shikamaru? When are you going to man up and go for jounin?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her. "Too troublesome." He stated bluntly. With a start, he realized that he had arrived at the Sand embassy. "How long are you staying this time?" he asked her at the door.

She looked at him happily. "Three months I think".

He nodded at her answer, looking pleased. "Good."

Temari looked at her with laughter in her eyes. "Why Shika-kun, anyone would think you cared!"

After looking around and seeing no-one, Shikamaru pushed her against the wall of the embassy with a searing kiss. She returned it with equal passion. He pulled away only when he needed air. "Troublesome woman." He growled in her ear. "You know I miss you."

Temari, panting slightly, looked pleased at this admission. She loved that she could do this to him, make him so flustered, make him show how he felt. Most of all she loved how she could make him put in effort. To her knowledge, her, his mother and the Hokage were the only women he would put in effort for. She stroked his cheek gently. "Pick me up at six, alright?

He looked at her in confusion. "Why?"

She grinned at his confusion before replying. "If there's a party, there's no way I'm going to miss it. I wanted to catch up with Tenten anyway." With those words she turned around and walked into the embassy, wiggling her hips a little and smiling to herself as she felt Shikamaru's eyes on her rear end.

He rubbed the back of his head as the door closed, embarrassed at being drawn into looking yet again. "Troublesome" he sighed before turning around and heading back to the academy for his next class.

* * *

Sakura tracked down Ino at her family's flower shop. The blonde girl was currently serving some customers, but turned to Sakura with a sigh as soon as they were gone. "Hey Sakura. I figured you'd be around soon."

Sakura looked at her, surprised that the blond had been expecting her. "Why?" she asked with interest.

"Naruto came to me after talking to you, told me you might have some questions about Sasuke. What happened?"

Sakura sighed and told her of the events of the previous day. Ino quirked an eyebrow at her. "You say he was talking about rebuilding his clan before he kissed you?"

Sakura nodded mutely.

Ino nodded wisely. "In that case Father must have set the seal to degrade slowly. He released the sealed memories first, so that Sasuke would remember that he had been sent to Orochimaru as a mission. But his attitude and personality are only slowly going back to what they were like before the seal."

Sakura looked confused at this. "But why? Why couldn't he just unseal everything at once?"

Ino just laughed. "Sakura, do you have any idea what sort of things he did while under the seal? Before he even got to Orochimaru he had already nearly killed Naruto. I'm sure he would have done much more evil things when he actually got to Orochimaru. If he went back to his normal personality straight away, the memory of the things he did would have probably driven him insane. Nearly five years of evil hitting you all at once.....I can't even imagine what that's like." The blond shook herself out of the funk she was in. "At any rate that would be why he kissed you. The personality we implanted in him was that of a person who would do whatever they had to in order to get what they want. He wants to rebuild his clan, so he needs a wife. And quite frankly, you were all over him before he left. He probably thought you'd be an easy mark."

Sakura mulled over this for a bit, clearly cheered up by the blonde's words. Then her face suddenly grew angry. "Ino, why did you say 'the personality **we** implanted'?"

Ino sighed, mentally berating herself for the slip of the tongue. "I'm sorry Sakura, I should have told you this as soon as you and Naruto brought him back." Hoping her friend wouldn't hate her for what she was about to say, she looked into her eyes and said calmly "I helped my Father put the seal on Sasuke's mind. Father wasn't strong enough to make it undetectable on his own. We couldn't take any chances, we didn't know how good Orochimaru was at mind manipulation jutsus. I wasn't allowed to tell you because it was an S-class mission. Please forgive me"

Sakura smiled at her friend. "I couldn't be mad at you. I really want to blame you for the pain I felt while he was gone, but I can't. We are ninja, and we get the job done, regardless of how we feel about it. I can't blame you for doing your job."

Ino looked very relieved that her friend wasn't angry at her. "I'll see you at the party tonight then Forehead?"

Sakura grinned at her. "Sure thing, Ino-pig."

* * *

Sasuke approached Naruto's house as it got dark feeling frustrated. He'd been out in Konoha ever since Naruto and Hinata's talk with him, but he'd been unable to find Sakura to talk to her. He looked down at himself and grinned. At least the day hadn't been a total waste. He'd gone to the Uchiha compound and had gotten himself some new clothes, sick of the stares he'd gotten walking around the village in his sound garb. He'd replaced it with a simple pair of long black pants, a larger version of the wide collared Uchiha shirt he'd worn as a child, and had also grabbed a pair of his old forearm covers to slip on over the bracers that had garnered nearly as many looks as his sound gear. Around his waist was a simple black leather belt that had his sword on his left hip and his money pouch on the right. His weapon pouch was strapped to his right thigh. The outfit hadn't changed the number of looks he got though. Instead they had changed from angry looks from all the ninjas he passed to longing looks from all the women he passed. He grinned again as he opened the door and went inside. Some things never changed, despite how annoying they might be. "_Although this will make it easier to find someone to rebuild the clan with...."_ Walking into the kitchen, he stopped, shocked at what he saw. All the rookie nine plus team guy were there, apparently waiting for him. Lifting up their bottles of sake (except Lee, who had orange juice) they let out a cheer. "Welcome back Sasuke!" Except of course for one pineapple-haired shinobi, who simply muttered "Troublesome".

Sorry about the short chappy guys. This one gave me a bit of trouble, so I'm going to split it into two. The actual party will be next chapter.


	4. A gathering of comrades part 2

Blue Eyes Yellow Flash

Chapter four

A gathering of comrades part 2

Sasuke stood still, shocked at the reception he had received. He felt overwhelmed by the hurricane of greetings and well-wishings that were flying at him. Noticing the raven haired ninja's distress, Naruto stepped in. "Okay guys, stop bothering him for a bit. We can get reacquainted over a few drinks."

It was then that Sasuke noticed the table literally bending under the weight of bottles of beer and sake. 'A few.....?' he wondered. He also noticed a small target hanging on the wall that hadn't been there when he left the house earlier. "Naruto, what's the target for?"

Naruto grinned at him. "That's the cutoff target" he explained. "Before every new bottle, you have to hit the target with a kunai from the other side of the room, or you get cut off." Noticing the smirk growing on Tenten's face, he quickly added "Tenten, you have to hit the bullseye."

Tenten scowled at him jokingly. "Damn you Naruto!"

At this point Hinata walked into the room, pulling off an apron as she walked. "Okay guys the food's ready now" she announced to the room at large. The reaction was immediate, as room emptied in seconds, as people only paused in their rush to the kitchen to grab a bottle of their preferred drink from the table.

Sasuke was left alone in the room with Naruto and Sakura. They stood there for a few seconds just looking at each other before Sakura broke the silence. "So. All of team seven together again."

Sasuke smirked. "I'm sure Kakashi would be hurt to hear you exclude him like that Sakura-chan"

Wondering to himself at Sasuke's use of the chan suffix to Sakura's name, he mirrored Sasuke's smirk. "He was supposed to be here by now. I suppose he'll tell us he was helping an old lady across the road or some crap like that." Naruto moved closer to Sasuke, pulling something out of his back pocket as he approached. "Kakashi was going to be here for this, but if he can't be here on time it's his own fault."

He handed the item to Sakura and she walked behind Sasuke. It was with a smile that she she tied the forehead protector to Sasuke's head as Naruto summoned a shadow clone. Stepping back infront of Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura gave Sasuke huge smiles as the clone returned with a sake bottle for each of them. Lifting their bottles in the air, they grinned at each other. "Team Seven!" Sakura shouted.

"Team Seven!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke grinned. He'd missed his team mates, even if he'd never let them know just how much he'd missed them. "Team Seven" he affirmed. They clinked their bottles together and then drained them simultainiously. Suddenly, they each pulled a kunai from their weapons pouches and hurled them at the target. They each thunked into it within a millisecond of each other. Laughing, the three reunited comrades grabbed some new bottles of drink and walked into the kitchen.

* * *

Sasuke groaned and leaned back, rubbing his stomach. Naruto did the same with a look of stunned disbelief on his face. The crowd on ninja around the table had a similar look on their faces. Hinata dropped down next to her boyfriend, looking extremely concerned. "Naruto-kun? Are you alright?"

Naruto grimaced, reaching back towards the table. "Just one more bowl....."

Sasuke grinned, knowing he'd won. "Give it up Naruto. You're the dobe, again."

Naruto growled at him as he continued reaching for the table. "Shut up teme!" Abruptly conceding defeat, he collapsed back into his seat, then turned to Sasuke with a look of mock awe on his face. "So it's true then...you have become truly powerful. I never thought I'd see the day that you'd beat me in a ramen eating contest!"

Sasuke gave out a loud laugh, unaware that most of the people around the table were staring at him in shock. For most of them it was the first time they'd heard him actually laugh. "There's lots of things that can be said about me and Orochimaru, and one of them is that neither of us can cook worth a damn. This is the first good tasting meal I've had in over four years.

Naruto suddenly glowed with pride. "Told you Hinata was a good cook."

They both laughed, then looked to the side when they heard a loud slurping noise. Chouji was still ploughing away. Feeling their eyes on him, he looked up. "What?"

Again, everyone laughed, before Ino suggested they move back into the other room. Agreeing, everyone grabbed their drinks and headed back to the room they were in previously. Once they were there they saw a sight that shocked them all. Well, it shocked Sasuke anyway. Kakashi was lounging on the couch, casually drinking a beer. His mask was nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke gaped at the man who had been his sensei. After all the nights of wondering what was under the second mask, it was finally revealed. And it was not at all what he had been expected. Pointing at his former teacher, Sasuke seemed to be channeling Naruto as he yelled out loud "After all that you've just got a perfectly normal face!"

Ino snorted behind him. "A perfectly hot face, I think you mean....sorry Chouji."

A voice he didn't recognise whispered in his ear. "Blondie's right, his face is perfectly normal. Provided of course that you ignore the fact that it's made of pure sexy."

Sasuke whirled around to come face to face with one of the most infamous kunoichis in Konoha. "Mitarashi Anko....how the hell did you get there without me noticing?"

Anko just laughed at him. "Hey, it's not my fault you were too busy looking at my boyfriend to notice a hot woman walking up behind you." She laughed again as she strutted over to the table to get herself a bottle of sake. "Hey Sakura, this might have something to do with why he never accepted any of your offers for a date!"

Sasuke just glared at her. "Still a malicious bitch I see."

Anko laughed yet again. "You know it!" Suddenly the expression on her face went cold, and her voice when she spoke was pure ice. "Still, I'm the only one who's allowed to say that. You will pay Uchiha Sasuke. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow. But someday you will know pain, and you will know that I have had my revenge. Until that day..." Her voice suddenly turned cheery again. "Let's have some fun!"

* * *

Naruto created about twenty Kage Bunshins and sent them upstairs for no apparent reason before hurling a kunai at the cutoff target and grabbing a beer for himself, Sasuke and Kakashi, who had just finished his. Plonking himself on the couch next to his former Sensei, he opened his beer and grinned. "So what took you so long this time sensei?"

Kakashi smiled and decided to surprise his student by actually telling the truth. "Anko was horny" he said in complete honesty.

Naruto nearly choked on his beer. "Pervert! I didn't need to know that!"

Sasuke shuddered at his memories of Anko from the chuunin exam. The woman liked tasting blood....he hated to think what she might be like in the bedroom. "I agree with the dobe, I really didn't need to know that."

Leaning over the back of the couch, Kiba smirked. "I did." he declared.

Turning, Sasuke got his first good look at the dog-nin from his academy class. He was confused by what he saw. "Please tell me you don't wear that ridiculous getup on missions."

Kiba looked down at his clothes and laughed. He was wearing black combat boots, black jeans and a sleeveless black trenchcoat over a fishnet tank top. "Hell no, there's no way I'd be able to pull off a decent Gatsuga with this thing flapping behind me. I just wear this stuff because the ladies like it."

Sasuke looked at Kiba assessingly. His bare arms were quite muscly, and his shoulders were broad. After Naruto he was easily the most well developed of the graduates from their year-most shinobi tended towards slimness. Sasuke shook his head. "The clothes look cool, I'll give you that. But any self respecting kunoichi would disappear the instant you opened your mouth."

Kiba grinned even wider. "Civilian bars Sasuke! Chicks are all over anyone with one of these" he said as he tapped his forehead protector. "You guys have no idea what you're missing out on."

Sakura sniffed dissapprovingly. "Well maybe some of us prefer meaningful relationships to a string of one night stands."

Kiba glared at her. "Well you've never had a mmmmffff."

Naruto sighed in relief. He'd managed to get his hand over Kiba's mouth in time to prevent him from finishing his sentence. He liked his house, he didn't need Sakura punching Kiba through a wall. Trying to relieve the tension, he grinned at everyone. "So, how about some games?"

* * *

Sasuke grinned as he walked back into the front room from the kitchen. Against his expectations he was actually having fun, drinking, joking and just generally goofing around with the people he hoped to soon consider friends, not having been particularly close to most of them before he left Konoha on his mission. He pulled up short as he entered the room. Kakashi was still sitting on the couch. Looking up at Sasuke, he patted the couch next to him. Sasuke sat down next to him in response to the unspoken invitation. The jounin looked across at his former student. "So how are you doing?"

Sasuke sighed. "I regret it."

"Regret what?" Kakashi asked, even though he had a good idea what was coming.

"Killing Itachi." Sasuke replied. "It's not that I killed him, he deserved to die. But I felt so good about it....He knew he was dying, he knew I had killed him, and I loved every second of it."

Kakashi smiled at the young Uchiha. "It wasn't you at the time. You know what Inoichi said when he put the seal on you."

Sasuke nodded as he spoke "I know what he said, but it's nothing to compared to the reality. Everything I did, I can remember, and it sickens me. I killed so many people...and I never cared. Every body was just a stepping stone on the path to more power."

Kakashi smiled again, yet his single visible eye was still sorrowful. "Well I wish I could help you with this, but it's something you'll have to work through yourself. Best advice I can give you is to grab a beer and go back to the others. Friends are sometimes the only things that make the life of a shinobi worthwhile."

Nodding in agreement, Sasuke stood up after Kakashi did, and following the jounin's example he hurled a kunai into the now crowded target and grabbed another beer. As they were walking back into the kitchen, something occurred to Sasuke. "Hey Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

"How come you don't wear the mask anymore?"

Kakashi laughed. "Anko doesn't let me wear it when I'm in the village, she says she wants all the other women to see what they're missing out on."

"Malicious bitch."

* * *

Sasuke woke up and groaned. 'Why did I drink so much last night?' he wondered. And then he remembered. 'Oh yeah. Naruto'. The memories from the night before had come rushing back. The group of friends had been drinking and playing games until the early hours of the morning, at which point Naruto had brought the shadow clones he made at the start of the night back downstairs to help the more intoxicated people home. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata had then stayed up even longer drinking some more and just generally enjoying the company. It occurred to him that he didn't even remember going to bed. Sasuke turned his head to the side and instantly regretted it for two reasons. Firstly, it brought a sudden stabbing pain to his head. Secondly, he saw a shock of pink hair resting on the pillow beside him. All he could think was 'Oh shit.'

Yay, four chapters done! As always, please review.


	5. The Mission

Blue Eyes Yellow Flash

Chapter Five

The Mission

Sasuke woke up and groaned. 'Why did I drink so much last night?' he wondered. And then he remembered. 'Oh yeah. Naruto'. The memories from the night before had come rushing back. The group of friends had been drinking and playing games until the early hours of the morning, at which point Naruto had brought the shadow clones he made at the start of the night back downstairs to help the more intoxicated people home. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata had then stayed up even longer drinking some more and just generally enjoying the company. It occurred to him that he didn't even remember going to bed. Sasuke turned his head to the side and instantly regretted it for two reasons. Firstly, it brought a sudden stabbing pain to his head. Secondly, he saw a shock of pink hair resting on the pillow beside him. All he could think was 'Oh shit.' Cautiously he lifted the covers and saw that they were both wearing nothing but underwear (and in his case, a pair of link bracers). 'Oh wow oh shit o shit'. Suddenly he froze. When he had lifted the blankets he had let out the warmth, and as a result of this Sakura had nuzzled up against the nearest source of heat. Too bad for him that it happened to be his chest. He knew he had to get out of there, but at the same time he couldn't help but to enjoy the feeling while it lasted. Barely breathing, he started to slide out of the bed. And then the moment he had been fearing came. Sakura stirred, and started to wake up. Frozen, he couldn't help but watch as the inevitable emotions paraded across her face. Confusion, shock and finally, anger.

Anko smirked as she heard the thunderous crash from the direction of the Namikaze mansion. Snuggling back into Kakashi's chest, she smiled to herself.

"You should probably go give them their clothes back before Sakura actually kills him" her lover told her in a matter of fact manner.

"Eh, I'll get around to it" she replied. "I did tell him I'd pay him back for calling me a malicious bitch."

* * *

Tsunade looked at the four ninjas in front of her desk wearily. Sometimes she didn't know why she still bothered maintaining even a semblance of respectability. The shinobi in front of her certainly looked as if they didn't. Of the four of them, Sakura looked the most respectable, but from the glares she was shooting Sasuke, it was obvious that she was the source of the bruises and lumps he was covered in, and wouldn't mind giving him some more. Kiba looked dog tired (sorry, I couldn't help myself), clearly hadn't shaved that morning, and judging from the wrinkles in his outfit, he was still wearing the clothes he had slept in. Naruto stood calmly sipping from a mug of coffee and looked fine, but Tsunade could tell both from the fact that he was drinking coffee, which he normally didn't need, and from how he winced whenever she raised her voice that he was still hung over from the party at his place the night before. She sighed and shook her head. If it hadn't been for the fact that they had only been told half an hour ago to come to her office for a mission she would have been busy thinking of a punishment for them for coming before their Hokage in such a state. But she had an important mission for them, so she had had to call them in on what was supposed to be their day off. Raising her voice, she called out "You can come in now Shinnen."

As one, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba turned to assess the man who had just walked in the door to the Hokage's office. He was young, looking to be around twenty years old, and had pale blue eyes and short, messy brown hair. He was a little bit below average height, but was well muscled, carrying himself with a fluidity and grace often associated with ninjas, although he wore no forehead protecter. He seemed very casually dressed in a simple red shirt and loose white pants, and the easy-going smile on his face reinforced this as he waved a hand in greeting. "Hey Hokage-sama. These the guys you were telling me about?"

Tsunade nodded. "Hai. They are Inuzuka Kiba, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto." she said, pointing each of them out in turn. "I believe they have the necessary skills to pull off this mission. Turning to the young ninjas in front of her, she said in a serious tone "I am assigning you an A rank team mission." Pausing for a moment to wait for Naruto's enthusiastic cries to die down, she continued. "There was a disturbing incident recently. A newly-promoted genin team was on a C rank protection mission, guarding a caravan heading here from Hinote city. As expected, the caravan was attacked by bandits. None of them were ninjas, and the genins were able to easily defeat most of the bandits in short order. However, when the last bandit had been backed into a corner, he took some sort of pill, which made him grow insanely angry, fast and strong." She slammed her hands down on the desk angrily. "He killed two of the genins with his bare hands before their jounin sensei brought him down, and it is doubtful whether or not the third genin will want to continue her career as a kunoichi." Sasuke was shocked. For a non ninja to be able to kill two genin was rare, to be able to do it bare-handedly and while fighting a jounin was unheard of. Tsunade took a sip from the sake bottle on her desk before continuing. "It was apparently a drug that has been used a lot in Hinote recently, being behind many violent crimes in the city recently. The mayor of Hinote has been stubborn about hiring us to get to the source of it, believing the police force to be up to the task, but this drug has now caused the death of two promising genin and the probable retirement of a third. We are going in whether they like it or not." Gesturing over to Shinnen, she motioned for him to come forward. "And that's where Shinnen comes in."

Grinning, Shinnen moved forward to stand beside Tsunade's desk. "Okay guys, first off, what do you know about Hinote?"

Predictably, it was Sakura who answered. "Hinote is the capital city of fire country. Although technically it is run by the Daimyo, it also has a mayor who actually has does most of the day-to-day work of running the city. Although it has only a few active Konoha ninjas based there, it is a popular place to retire to. Hinote is most famed for its high quality wooden furniture and its 'free running' competitions."

Looking shocked at the depth of Sakura's knowledge, Shinnen nodded. "That's correct....Sakura, wasn't it?" After Sakura nodded, he continued. "That is all correct Sakura. However, what is not commonly known is that the free running competitions are the source of most of the drugs in the city. People come from all over to for the competitions, and bring new drugs with them, which are spread over the city by the runners. It's hard for the police to keep tabs on it, as there is no way to tell who has drugs on them without the use of sniffer dogs, which are very easy to avoid on the rooftops."

It was at this point that Kiba butted in. "I suppose that's where I come in! Also, what the hell is free running?"

Shinnen laughed. "I'm glad you asked. Free running is a very avidly followed sport in Hinote. About fifty years ago, Hinote was ruled by a very evil man. This man was actually the mayor at the time, and he had sealed off the city in such a way that no-one could enter or leave. This man was eventually brought down by a group of resistance cells working together. However, after the mayor was brought down, it was revealed that the true force behind the resistance was a group of retired ninjas. Sick of a life of violence, they had retired to Hinote and sworn to lead pacifistic lives from that day on. When the mayor sealed the city, they did what they could without breaking their vows by running messages between the resistance cells and just generally coordinating them. They used the rooftops to avoid detection, getting around obstacles and past gaps that left their pursuers stumped. This group became known as the Runners. After this, a sport we now know as free running was developed. Originally it was just for the amusement of those who did it and had no specific goals, other than to increase speed and fluidity of movement, but this has changed over the years. Free running is now a sport with a massive following, with many different races in the different leagues." He grinned. "I myself am currently third in the B league. The goal is to get from one point in the city to another without ever touching the ground."

Naruto snorted. "That sounds really easy."

Shinnen smiled. "It does, doesn't it? But it isn't. In order to make the competion fair to those without a ninja background, use of chakra is forbidden. That's why I'm here. I'll be teaching you guys to get around on the rooftops without relying on chakra."

Tsunade spoke up once more. "Okay guys, in two weeks time there is a race known as the Grand Race. Anyone in the city is allowed to participate, and up and comers will always be at this race, hoping to perform well and receive an invitation to join one of the leagues. You will spend a week here training with Shinnen before heading out to participate in the Grand Race. Do your best in that race, as you may have to enter one of the major leagues to get close to whoever is distributing this drug. Am I clear?"

The four young shinobi faced her and saluted. "Hai Hokage-sama!"

* * *

Naruto put his hands on his knees and gasped. He couldn't remember being this tired outside of a fight in a long time. Shinnen leaned over him and grinned. "Come on Naruto, at this rate you won't even be able to pass as a Runner, let alone win the Grand Race! Keep moving! Keep moving!" Naruto sighed as he started running again. Who'd have thought doing this without chakra would be so hard? Not Sasuke and Sakura, that's for sure. They'd both collapsed shortly before. Kiba was still going, but Naruto had a feeling that most of his energy was due to a stubborn refusal to give up before the Uchiha. As if in confirmation, Kiba collapsed. Shinnen grinned, seeing that Naruto was still going with the running and jumping exercises that had been set out for him. Clapping his hands, he called out to the exhausted teenagers "Okay guys, let's take a break for lunch. What's good to eat around here?"

Kiba seemed to gain a sudden burst of energy as he jumped on Naruto with his hands over his mouth. "There's a sushi place in town called Jaws that's pretty good."

Shinnen grinned. "Okay guys, we'll go there then. RUN! Last one there pays for the first person!"

He grinned again as the four teenagers scrambled to their feet and ran off.

After they had eaten their lunch, with Sasuke paying for Sakura (it didn't occur to him when they set off that he didn't actually know where the restaurant was) they moved from the training grounds to the rooftops, where Shinnen started teaching them some of the tricks of the trade, little things that would help them out during the races. This set the pattern for the remaining days of the week, physical training in the mornings, followed by technique training in the afternoons. Shinnen was silently amazed at how quickly the teenagers adapted to performing without the use of chakra jumps and flips that they would have considered impossible before. By the end of the week of training, they were even doing it with light weights attached to their ankles and wrists. But all too soon it was time to head off to Hinote city. On the morning of the day that they were to leave, Shizune met them at the gates carrying a large sack.

Naruto eyed it curiously. "What's in the sack Shizune-san?"

Shizune smiled. "Nothing yet. This is a undercover mission you guys. I need you to give me anything that could be used to indentify you as ninjas. It'll be kept safe and returned to you when you get back."

Grumbling half heartedly, the four removed their forehead protectors and weapons pouches and put them in the sack. Naruto and Sasuke then removed their sandals, exchanging them for pairs of combat boots Shizune gave them. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of cloth patches and gave them to Sasuke. He looked at them curiously. "Those are to sew over the fan on the back of your shirts" Shizune explained. "The Uchiha clan symbol isn't very well known at all nowadays, but there's no sense in taking unnecessary risks."

Sasuke grunted and shoved the patches into his pocket. He looked at the others and pointed out the gate. "Okay, let's go." he said.

Smiling slightly, Sakura lightly hit him on the back of his head. "Who's the jounin here Sasuke?" she asked jokingly.

Sasuke smiled back. He was finding Sakura a lot more pleasant to be around since she had decided it wasn't his fault that Anko had decided that his punishment was to put him in a compromising position with Sakura in order to get her to beat him up. And the fact that she had stopped fangirling over him had gained her a lot of points in his book, even if it had meant she had been very cold to him for the first few days after his return. Although, he mused, he only had himself to blame for that. He still didn't know what had possessed him to kiss her. As they walked out of the gates of Konoha, he felt a large smile spreading over his face. After all that had happened, team seven was together again.

* * *

Hey guys. I cannot say this enough, please review. I really won't improve without it. Especially those people who have added my story to their alerts or favourite story lists without reviewing. That said, thank you to Rose Tiger, my most consistent reviewer. Btw, I don't own Naruto.


	6. Arrival and Exploration

Blue Eyes Yellow Flash

Chapter Six

Arrival and Exploration

Okay guys here it goes. A grand announcement that will shock you all. I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke cursed softly to himself as he stuck his finger with a needle for what felt like the hundredth time. He was busy sewing patches over the fan symbol on the back of all his shirts, it was important that he do it now as the group would be arriving in Hinote by noon of the next day, despite the fact that they'd have to be travelling as civilians to avoid suspicion. He had been unable to hold back a bitter laugh when he'd pulled the patches out of his pocket and examined them properly. The yin and yang symbol was slowly replacing the fan on the back of his shirts. He wondered whether it meant anything. The yin and yang would probably be a popular ornament from what he'd heard from Shinnen about the often flamboyant free runners of Hinote, but Sasuke had often thought that the symbol represented him perfectly. Light in the darkness, and darkness in the light. He smiled sardonically. The only problem now was that he didn't know which one he was.

* * *

Sakura walked through the camp that they'd set up, looking for her favourite knuckle headed ninja. Finally she found him sitting against a tree a few metres back from where they'd erected the tents. Flopping down next to him, they both just sat next to each other enjoying the silence for a few minutes. Finally it was broken by Naruto. "I assume you came here for a reason?"

Sakura nodded. "I wanted to talk."

Naruto rolled his eyes at her. "Jeez Sakura, I may not be the brightest guy around but that was pretty obvious. Whadda you want to talk about?"

Sakura sighed. "Sasuke."

Naruto sat silently for a little while until he realized she wasn't going to say any more. "And?" he prompted gently.

She sighed. "It's funny. We worked so hard to get him back here, and now I kinda wish he was still gone. He's been concious for all of nine days and already he's throwing my mind every which way. Hell, he started within an hour of waking up! I know he just wants to have kids and rebuild his precious clan, but I loved him! And I don't want to be used by him, but I can't help liking him either. And when I woke with him in my bed, I was furious, but to a part of me it just felt right, like that was the way it was supposed to be." Sighing again, she turned to Naruto. "How do you stop liking someone?"

Naruto looked shocked at her question. "How am I supposed to know that!?" he yelped.

Sakura looked slightly annoyed at the question. "You got over me, didn't you?"

Naruto laughed at that. "Well I got over you after you spent years smashing me into the ground every time I asked you for a date. Since Sasuke was doing that verbally for the same length of time, I don't think that'll work for you. Maybe you just need to go out with some other guys."

Sakura grimaced at him. "Tried that you baka. Didn't work."

Naruto grinned at her knowingly. "Lemme guess. You can't help comparing them to Sasuke."

Sakura looked at him wonderingly. "You're not usually this perceptive. How'd you know that?"

Naruto laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I may have talked to Ino and Hina-chan about it before we left."

Sakura snorted in a distinctly unladylike manner before replying. "Figures. I knew you weren't that deep."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at that. "Well I may not be very deep, but I do know one thing. He's thrown your thoughts into chaos since he returned, you can't date other guys without comparing them to him, and it felt right for you to wake up next to him." He shrugged. "Maybe it's more than just an old crush. Maybe you actually love him." Working the kinks out of his shoulders, he got up. "You mind taking my watch for a bit so I can go get some food?" Sakura nodded dumbly as he strode off. She had a lot to think about.

Behind her in one of the tents Sasuke slowly packed up his sewing kit after finishing his last shirt. Having heard every word of the conversation, he also had a lot to think about.

* * *

Sakura and Kiba gasped as they walked in through the gates of Hinote city. Sasuke and Naruto just rolled their eyes at them, having seen much more impressive cities while training under their respective sannin sensei. They both had to admit however that none of the places they had seen could compete with the city in terms of sheer activity. With only five days left until the Great Race, the already busy city had even more people hurrying around attending to tasks such as hanging decorations and what appeared to be safety nets from the huge towers that loomed over the city. After registering as runners at the gate, they quickly asked for directions to the hotel they had booked rooms for and moved there promptly. After unpacking their gear with a speed that only trained shinobi are capable of, they congregated in Sakura's room for a team briefing.

They found her frowning over a map of the city that was spread out on the small coffe table in the room. "This would be so much easier if we had the support of the mayor" she was muttering as they entered the room. Sensing the presence of the other members of the group in her room, she gestured for them to sit around the table without even looking up from the map. "Okay guys, we've got work to do." she stated. "Naruto, I want you to create a bunch of clones and transform them to look like citizens, then go over the rooftops and learn as much about the upper levels of the city as you can. Sasuke, you and I will transform into civilians and familiarize ourselves with the roofs, concentrating on the areas where safety nets are being put up. Kiba, you go around the streets, try and identify any runners you can and see if you can catch any unusual scents on any of them. First priority is to try and get a sniff of this drug, we won't be able to track it to the source if you don't know what it smells like." Sakura glanced up at the clock before she continued. "It's three now. Meet back here at six and we'll grab some dinner and compare notes. Move out!"

With an in sinc "Hai!" the shinobi of Konoha were gone.

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke bounded over the rooftops, racing each other back to the hotel the group was staying at. Not that either of them would admit they were racing of course. It was with a final burst of previously unseen speed that Sasuke got back first, going through the window in a clean dive with Sakura right behind him. They straightened up and dispelled the henges they were under only to find that they were the last ones back, with Naruto and Kiba already having taken the couch. Sakura went to sit on one of the arms of the couch while Sasuke merely leaned against the wall. Sakura broke the silence in a business like manner. "Okay guys, report."

Predictably, Naruto spoke first. "Rooftops are pretty clustered. There's things like airconditioning units and clothes lines everywhere. It'll be hard to get up to full running speed on a single roof, so it looks like the key to winning the races will be maintain momentum even after jumping and landing. I wasn't alone up there though, it looks like some other people were also checking things out."

Sakura nodded, absorbing the information. "Okay, Kiba, what did you find?"

All business, Kiba leaned forward to tell them his afternoon's discoveries. "The city seems to be pretty crowded, I doubt there's this many people here normally. The chatter I heard in the streets seems to confirm that, it appears that people come from all over to watch the races. I caught a lot of strange new scents, but nothing that I can conclusively identify as a drug. I did find two interesting titbits of information though. Firstly, the city is divided into sectors, and only those with the right identification are allowed to pass between the sectors, this is probably why Runners are used to smuggle the drugs. It'd probably be a waste of time for me to keep trying to catch any scents on the ground, I'll keep trying on the rooftops tomorrow. Secondly, the person who is currently the top ranked Runner in the city, a man by the name of Koga, owns a nightclub in one of the richer districts of the city. There's going to be a fairly prestigious party there tonight, unless you're a Runner or a guest of a Runner you can only get in if you have a personal invitation from Koga. I think we should go to this thing. It'll be a chance to scope out the competition and also try and get a whiff of this drug."

Sakura grinned at him. "And I'm sure the fact that there'll be lots of girls there is irrelevant to you."

Kiba grinned back, showing off his fangs. "Of course. How could you think otherwise?"

Sakura smiled a little at the predictability of the dog-nin. Putting away the notepad she had been jotting the information down on, she delivered the report she had put together in her head on the run back to the hotel. "What we assume is the race course is also fairly cluttered. There's a wide variety of obstacles that we'll have to go over, under and through. It looks like the race will be indoors for at least a part of the time. There's only one part of the course that looks to be difficult, it's a pretty significant jump. At the moment there's a crane that we could use to shorten the distance, but we can't count on it being there on race day. We'll have to work on our horizontal jumping distance between now and then. For now, we should eat some food and then go to this party thing, it's crucial that we get to know some of the people that might be involved in the smuggling. Everyone, go get some food and meet back here in an hour."

* * *

Four figures strode through the streets of Hinote, bound for the Nagi district, an area mainly composed of nightclubs favoured by the richer denizens of the city. With the flamboyant outfits they were wearing, they could only be Runners. Anyone who suspected this would have had their suspicions confirmed had they seen the group flash their competion ID to the police officers at the border of the Nagi district. With a flourish, the group was off again.

Sakura smiled as she led the group past the guard posting. She'd dressed the group to look like nothing more than a group of Runners, and had apparently done it perfectly. The police were already requesting their Runner ID before they even stated why they were there. She smirked again. One of the things she had learned during her kunoichi training was that if you got the outfit of your disguise right, the rest just fell into place. It had helped that the officers were women too. She never would have thought it in their academy days, but Naruto and Kiba actually scrubbed up pretty well. Sasuke of course had always had favourable reactions from the opposite sex. She preened as she noticed that she was getting as many looks from guys as he was from girls. She looked down at her body and decided that she had definitely made the right choice when she had decided on the deep blue bodysuit she was wearing. She had picked it up in Konoha the day before leaving for the mission. She would never wear it back there of course, she would stick out like a sore thumb. However, in the crowd of similarly dressed people apparently heading to the same location as they were, the bodysuit that was tight in all the right places fit in perfectly. She turned to look at her team and grinned. Judging from the lack of attention paid to them (other than admiring looks from the many women present) the outfits she had picked for them blended in equally well. Kiba had been easy, she'd just gotten him to wear his usual clubbing outfit of long black pants, mesh tank top and sleeveless open trenchcoat. Sasuke had been harder, eventually she'd just settled on putting him in his usual outfits, but had, with after much protesting, ripped the sleeves off his shirt, leaving his arms bare. Naruto had surprisingly put his own outfit together, simply putting his father's old coat of red with black flames on over his regular clothes. Apparently missing his forehead protecter, he had found a long red cloth somewhere and currently had it tied around his forehead. Sakura couldn't help but feel eager as they entered the nightclub, dressed to kill and ready for action.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she leant against the bar. Unless Kiba got some useful information, it looked like tonight was going to be a waste of time. And things had been going so well too! Naruto had been near useless as he proved once again that a powerful ninja could be just as clueless as an academy student, not really understanding how to subtly track down a source of drugs and completely missing the fact that the group of girls following him around would willingly have spilled their guts to him just for the chance to get closer to the tall, well muscled stranger with the beautiful blue eyes. Kiba had disappeared as soon as they had entered. She and Sasuke had been doing well working the people at the bar for information until Sasuke had noticed a guy she was chatting to lay a hand on her ass. He had promptly decked the guy and had stood next to her ever since, releasing waves of killer intent every time a man so much as looked at her. So it was that she was trying to get information out of a blonde bimbo who seemed more interested in gossip about the various Runners in the city than in the recent spate of violent crimes. Suddenly the bimbo in question let out a loud squeal as the music playing in the club stopped and a group of four men walked onto the stage that was set up in the middle of the club, complete with a drum kit, two guitars, a microphone and a bass. "Oh Kami, it's Shinobi! It thought it was just a rumour that they were playing tonight!"

"Who're Shinobi?" Sakura asked her while scanning the men on the stage.

"How can you not have heard of them?! They're a band, all the members are ex-ninja, and they're high ranking Runners too!" Sakura tuned the bimbo's babbling out as she continued to watch the men on stage. None of them looked like ninja, but appearances could be deceiving. She started paying attention again as the fangirl appeared to be winding down her rant and would probably expect a response soon. Sure enough, she was correct. "and of course they're all completely gorgeous." she finished. Leaning around Sakura, she looked directly at Sasuke. "Mind you, you're not too bad either honey."

A large burst of killing intent was the only response. The blonde haired girl went pale and quickly found an excuse to go elsewhere. Losing her temper, Sakura grabbed Sasuke by the front of his shirt and dragged him out of the club as the band started to play.

"What the hell was that Sasuke?"

_If I had to, I would put myself right beside you._

"I don't like to be bothered by fangirls."

_So let me ask, would you like that? Would you like that?_

"I don't mean that. The reason we're here is to gather information, I can't do that with you knocking out or scaring off all the guys!"

_And I don't mind, if you say this love is the last time._

"I'm sorry! I just hated to see him touching you like that!"

_So now I'll ask, do you like that? Do you like that? No!_

"Well it isn't just you Sasuke, but I am willing to do what I have to to to get the job done. And let me tell you, you lost the right to be upset at a guy touching me a long time ago."

_Something's getting in the way, something's just about to break._

"That isn't fair Sakura."

_I will try to find my place, in the diary of Jane._

"Not fair? I'll tell you what's not fair. I was without my two teammates and best friends for two and a half years because you thought you had to go it alone. I didn't see you for nearly five years because you weren't willing to ask for help!"

_Try to find out, what makes you tick, as I lie down_

"You couldn't have come with me! Orochimaru would have killed you!"

_Sore and sick, do you like that? Do you like that?_

"I didn't have to go with you, but me and Naruto still could have helped! Instead we spent five years thinking you had betrayed the village! Betrayed us!"

_There's a fine line between love and hate and I don't mind_

"You couldn't know! It had to look like I left of my own free will!"

_Just let me say that I like that, I like that_

"And you think we couldn't have acted? Regardless of what you think, regardless of what you might say, we could have helped!"

_Something's getting in the way, something's just about to break_

"I didn't want you to get hurt!"

_I will try to find my place, in the diary of Jane_

"I poured my heart out to you! I told you I loved you and begged you to stay, and you just told my I was annoying! You think that didn't hurt!?"

_As I burn another page, as I look the other way_

"That wasn't me! I had Inoichi's seal on me and on top of that I had the cursed seal fucking with my head!"

_I still try to find my place, in the diary of Jane_

"So what? It still hurt just as much! And it definitely wasn't the first time you hurt me like that!"

_So tell me how it should be!_

"Because I didn't want to form any attachments as long as Itachi still lived! He would have used you against me!"

_Desperate, I will crawl, waiting for so long_

"And that was all you cared about wasn't it. Denying your brother a weapon to use against you."

_No love, there is no love_

"That's not true!!"

_Die for anyone, what have I become?_

"Then what was it Sasuke?"

_Something's getting in the way_

"I didn't want him to hurt you!"

_Something's just about to break_

"Bullshit! As if you ever cared about that!"

_I will try to find my place_

"That's not true Sakura!"

_In the diary of Jane_

"When have you ever cared if I got hurt!?"

_As I burn another page_

"I've always cared! I've always liked you!"

_As I look the other way_

"Bullshit Sasuke. Give me one example of when you've looked after my well being."

_I still try to find my place_

"Second test in the Chuunin exams"

_In the diary of Jane._

Flashback

_Sasuke rose up, black marks covering the left hand side of his face, purple chakra coiling around him. Looking around, he saw Sakura, beaten and battered fromm trying to hold off the three sound genin. "Sakura. Who did this to you? Who hurt you?"_

/End Flashback

Sasuke looked at Sakura, a look of deep hurt in his eyes. "Even then I cared for you. Even when I first woke up after having the curse seal put on me I wanted to kill them, just for hurting you. If you hadn't asked me to stop they would have died."

As the music died away Sakura could do nothing but stand outside the club deep in thought as she watched Sasuke walk away from her yet again.

* * *

Wow! Hard chappy to write. It shows too, as it's a few days late and not my best work. But it's the largest chapter yet, so hopefully that'll keep you guys happy. The song was The diary of Jane, by Breaking Benjamin.


	7. Preparations

Blue Eyes Yellow Flash

Chapter Seven

Preparations

Oh man you guys, you have no idea how tempting it was to use Never Gonna Give You Up instead of Diary of Jane at the end of the last chapter. But my beta reader scares me and he knows where I live....

In Soviet Russia, I own Naruto. Over here, Naruto owns me.

* * *

Flashback

_Sasuke rose up, black marks covering the left hand side of his face, purple chakra coiling around him. Looking around, he saw Sakura, beaten and battered fromm trying to hold off the three sound genin. "Sakura. Who did this to you? Who hurt you?"_

/End Flashback

Sasuke looked at Sakura, a look of deep hurt in his eyes. "Even then I cared for you. Even when I first woke up after having the curse seal put on me I wanted to kill them, just for hurting you. If you hadn't asked me to stop they would have died."

As the music died away Sakura could do nothing but stand outside the club deep in thought as she watched Sasuke walk away from her yet again. 'No' she thought. 'This is not happening again. I refuse to let him walk away from me again!' Running after him, she called out. "Sasuke!"

He halted, but didn't turn to face her. "What do you want Sakura?"

"I want to know why you're only telling me this now. Why?! You knew how I felt about you. We could have been together years ago! I could have helped you with what you had to do! You didn't need to keep me out of your life like that!"

He turned to her, the barest hint of irritation showing in his eyes. "You couldn't have helped. Killing Itachi was something I had to do on my own. I had to get my revenge myself."

"And reviving your clan? Can you do that by yourself? You want me to help you with that, why couldn't I help you with Itachi? Do you want to be alone forever Sasuke?"

He turned around again and spoke in an emotionless voice. "I'm sorry I hurt you Sakura. I won't bother you again." As he started to walk off he said in the same cold voice "I'll see you back at the hotel."

Flashback

_Sakura sat with Naruto at Ichiraku's giggling at the sheer cuteness of Naruto and Hinata arguing over who got the last mouthful from their shared bowl of ramen. Looking at the wide smile on Naruto's face, she sighed. Distracted, Naruto looked over at her with a concerned expression on his face "What's up Sakura?"_

_She sighed. "What's your secret Naruto?"_

_Predictably, he looked at her in confusion before giving his usual foxy grin. "My secret to what? Putting away so much ramen? Being the best Hokage candidate ever? Or just being so dashingly handsome?"_

_Sakura sighed again. "No, how do you be so carefree? You always seem so happy, even when bad things are happening to you. How do you do it?"_

_Naruto put his chopsticks down and thought for a bit, not even noticing when Hinata took advantage of the distraction to stuff the last helping of noodles into his mouth. Absentmindedly chewing and swallowing, he thought for a while before responding. "There was a really old man I knew when I was a kid. He must have known what I was but he didn't care. He used to talk to me in the park when I ran away from the orphanage, he even brought me sweets sometimes." Naruto sighed, looking saddened by the memory. "He passed away when I was six. But he was always smiling, even on the day when he told me he was going to hospital and wouldn't be able to see me for a while. I asked him once why he was always so happy, and he told me that it was because he lived for every moment, and never regretted a decision once it was made. He told me that if I spent my life regretting past decisions, I might miss the chance to make a choice that might make my life better. It had a big effect on me, so I always try and live by it. It was part of what helped me make my nindo, my ninja way. After all, if you go back on your own decisions, how can you be expected to keep the promises you make to others?" Picking up his chopsticks to continue his food war with Hinata, he looked down at the bowl in confusion. "Hey, where'd it go?"_

_Sakura and Hinata couldn't hold the calm looks on their faces, they dissolved into helpless laughter at the confused look on his face._

/End Flashback

As Sakura stood there, watching Sasuke walk away from her for the second time that night, she came to a decision. She had lost this once, if she had any control over it she wasn't going to let him walk away again. To hell with wondering how she really felt about him, it was time to just act and deal with it later if he just saw her as an easy path to rebuilding the Uchiha clan. Running to him, she threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in the back of his shirt. "Sasuke! Don't go!"

He stiffened at first, but then relaxed when he realized who had grabbed him. "Sakura, what..."

"I don't care!" she sobbed. "This might not work out Sasuke, I'm telling you that now, but I'll be f#$%ed if I'll let something like this go without even giving it a shot!"

He turned around and for the first time since he was a child, he actually embraced another person. "Sakura...thank you" he whispered.

She gasped. This had happened before, her running and hugging him from behind, and him thanking her. But this was different. He was here, in her arms. She didn't know if it would work out or not, but for now it was perfect. "I'm sorry" she sobbed. "I'm sorry for saying those hurtful things to you."

Sasuke gently stroked his hand through her hair. He'd always loved her hair. "Shhh. You don't have anything to apologise for, I deserved it." Stroking her cheek, he continued. "Should we go back to the hotel?"

She smiled up at him. "Yeah, we probably should, after the show we put on inside I doubt either of us would be able to get much more information out of the people in there."

As they headed back to the hotel, Sasuke asked her a question that his whole world rested on the answer of. "Hey Sakura... when we get back to the village you want to go out to dinner with me some time?"

She smiled as they walked off. "Yeah....I'd like that."

As they walked off down the street Naruto dropped down from the roof gracefully, with a smile on his face. He'd watched as his friends and team mates had argued and made up in the deserted alleyway by the side of the club. Strolling back into the club, he couldn't restrain his smile. Now if only the women in there would pay attention to facts other than whether or not he could dance, he might be able to get some decent information. He shook his head. Why did it matter if he could or couldn't dance anyway? Women made no sense.

* * *

Sakura sighed and shook her head as she sat on the couch in her hotel room and read the daily newspaper. Seriously, how could he screw up so bad? Even Lee would have been better than this, even if his fashion choices would have made him stand out a mile away. Shaking her head again, she went out into the corridor and knocked on the door to Naruto's room. Getting no response, she then tried Sasuke's room. She could tell he had slept badly when he opened the door, with his wet dark hair even messier than normal, and prominent bags under his eyes. Behind him she could see the remains of his breakfast; he'd apparently ordered room service. "Hey Sasuke-kun" she said, feeling the re-addition of the affectionate honourific appropriate. "Have you seen Naruto this morning?"

He squinted at her, slowly processing her question. "Why?"

Wordlessly, she handed him the newspaper she had been reading. While he slowly read the article she pointed out to him, she silently appreciated the fact that he was apparently so tired he was yet to notice that he was only wearing a towel. As he finished reading the article, she spoke up. "To me that's got Naruto written all over it."

Sasuke looked up at her blearily. "Probably. If he's not in his room try the gym down on the second floor, he was talking about it yesterday."

Sakura thanked him, but interupted when he looked to be going back into his room. "Why are you so tired? We got back at the same time last night and I'm fine."

Amusement flickered across his face despite how exhausted he seemed. "My room is next to Kiba's. He brought a girl back last night. She was loud."

"Oh. Well, I'm going to go find Naruto to talk to him about this. You want to come?"

Sasuke nodded tiredly. "May as well, I need to get some more coffee anyway." Walking out of his room, he made to head off down the hallway, only to stop at the sound of Sakura giggling. "What?"

Gasping it out around what was rapidly becoming full blown laughter, Sakura said "You might want to put some clothes on."

Sasuke looked down at the towel with irritation on his face. "Oh. I thought I had." Fortunately, he had also forgotten to lock the door to his room, so after a short length of time they were off. It was in silence that they rode down the elevator, and soon they were at the gym. Sure enough, Naruto was in the gym wearing nothing but his pants, with his shirt throw haphazardly over a nearby treadmill. Naruto himself was benchpressing a rather large weight, while being predictably oblivious to the appraising looks the female gym attendant was giving him.

"Morning Naruto!" Sakura sang out as they approached. Annoyed at the looks the attendant was now shooting at Sasuke, she subtly sent chakra to her arms and easily grabbed the large barbell Naruto had been lifting out of his hands and put it into the slots above the bench, enjoying the way the attendant's eyes boggled.

Naruto sat up and toweled himself down as he gave them his trademarked foxy grin. "Morning Sakura, Sasuke. What's up?"

"We were hoping you could tell us that Naruto." Sakura said. Opening the paper with a flourish, she started to read. "A woman is lucky to be alive and uninjured today after an attempted mugging last night. The woman, who requested that her identity be kept a secret was accosted by a man as she walked through the Nagi district last night on her way home after a night out. The man, who is yet to be named, held a knife to her throat and demanded money, threatening to kill her if she didn't comply with his demands. At this point, a second man described by the victim as having " blonde hair,blue eyes and these weird lines on his cheeks" interfered, breaking the assailant's arm and giving him a severe concussion. The man has been detained for assault, attempted mugging and possesion of an illicit substance, but is yet to respond to questioning. Police are requesting that the man who assisted the woman come forward to give a statement." Lowering the paper, she glared at Naruto. "Sound familiar?"

He grinned at her, clearly proud of his actions. "Yeah, I did great."

Sasuke sighed. "Dobe, what was the man arrested for?"

Naruto frowned at him. "Attacking that woman, obviously."

Sakura resisted the urge to bop Naruto on the head with great difficulty. "Were you even listening to me Naruto? He was also charged with possesion of an illegal substance, and was incidentally in the process of committing a violent crime."

You could practically see the gears turning in Naruto's head as he put two and two together, and eventually came up with four. "OH! You think he might have had some of the drug we're looking for on him?"

Sakura nodded. "Hai. Either that or he might have known where to get some. However, this gives me an idea. If this mugger had drugs on him, others may too. So all we have to do is get our hands on some muggers and hopefully one of them will have the drug we're looking for. All we need is bait. It'd be better if it was a girl, most muggers will go after people who are physically weaker than them. The rest of us will be ready to step in of course, but it'll have to be a lone girl as bait."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Ne, Sakura, are you sure you're willing to do this? I mean it could be dangerous if you get outnumbered or caught by surprise."

Sakura looked at him with an evil grin on her face. "I never said anything about me. It wasn't ME that messed up last night. And I'm the team leader, I shouldn't put myself at unnessecary risk. I suppose your Oiroke no Jutsu will finally be put to good use after all."

Naruto backed away, shaking his head with a horrified look on his face. "Oh no. No way, no how. Not gonna happen."

"I'm sorry, who's the jounin here?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"But Sakura, Kiba's a jounin too and you know I could be as well if I hadn't been waiting for Sasuke!"

"Kiba's our designated tracker, and Tsunade made me team leader. Your skill is not in question, this is about rank, and I outrank you so sexy up!"

"I'm not doing it Sakura."

"Yes you are Naruto."

"No."

"Yes!"

* * *

Naruto sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time that night as he fingered the silky material of his dress. Although he couldn't deny the dress was comfortable, it still felt strange for him to be wearing clothes at all while he was female. Walking down a dark and gloomy alleyway, the people walking down the streets winced and hurried along when they saw a rough looking group of men follow the attractive young girl. They felt bad about what was to happen, but they weren't going to risk getting hurt for someone they didn't know. Of course, had they stayed they might have heard something interesting, namely crashes, banging and terrified screams of a distinctly un-feminine nature. The girl that was Uzumaki Naruto walked out of the other end of the alley happily, this was the twelth time she'd been mugged and she had finally found a man who was carrying pills of some sort. Signalling to her teammates on the rooftops across the street, Naruto walked back into the alleyway and dropped the sexy jutsu with a sigh of relief. Being female for an extended length of time was _weird_. That said, being a dress-wearing male skulking in an alleyway wasn't much better. As Sasuke dropped down beside him and picked up the man he pointed out as having been carrying the drugs, Naruto leapt for the rooftops and the bag carried by Kiba that held his normal clothes. He hoped it was the right drug, as he couldn't wait until this part of the mission was over.

* * *

As Waro Hijomi woke up, it occurred to him that today was not his day. First, he had had that black cat cross his path, which he was sure was the root of his current troubles. His day had just gone downhill from then. He had been crossing the street and had nearly been run over by a cart. Jumping back from that, he slipped and knocked one of his teeth out on the pavement when he somehow managed to land face first. He'd gone and bought some ice for his face, and to discover half an hour later that he had been short changed. It was only the fact that he and some of his buddies had seen an easy mark walking unguarded into an alleyway that stopped him from going back and beating the snot out of the clerk at the store. But to his great surprise, the beautiful girl about half his weight had taken down all four of his friends in _very_ painful ways before heading towards him. And to top it all off, he was now waking up to find that he was tied to a chair in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Having put people in the position he was currently in several times over the years, he knew this wasn't a good sign. Looking around, he could see for about five metres around him before the light from the lamp next to his chair died out. The floor was littered with debris, mainly rocks, chunks of cement and old pieces of machinery. Deciding he he had nothing to lose he called out. "Hello?"

To his shock, a pink haired girl who was also around half his size walked into the light. "Oh good, you're awake. I have some questions I want answered."

Staring at her, Hijomi couldn't help but laugh. He had been expecting someone from a rival gang, maybe a bruiser hired by someone he owed money to. "Are you kidding me? You're just a little girl!"

Sakura smiled at what she heard. She was going to enjoy this. "You had some pills on you when my friend took you down. I want to know what they are and what they do."

Hijomi laughed again. "Go to hell girlie." He looked on nervously as the girl picked up a rock in her right hand and approached his chair. He wouldn't tell her anything, but that didn't mean he wanted to be hit in the head with rocks. He'd had that happen to him before, that had _hurt._

To his shock, rather than hit him with the rock as he'd been expecting, the girl grabbed the ropes he was tied down with in her free hand and lifted him bodily into the air seemingly effortlessly. Bringing the rock in front of his face, she crushed it into gravel with her bare hands. "Listen you bastard, I don't have time for this. Either you tell me what I want to know or your 'rocks' will get the same treatment, got it?"

Sakura couldn't hold back her smile as the bruiser she was holding broke down and told her everything he knew.

* * *

Sakura grinned as she walked out of the warehouse and flashed a victory sign to the men waiting for her. "It's the one we're looking for guys. Kiba, you know your job."

The feral Inuzuka gave her a particularly wolfish grin. "I'm on it."

**Yay, seven chapters. Please leave reviews, they make me happy and cheerful and joyous!**


End file.
